All 19 Tory Southend councillors have voted against plans to open to a casino at the Kursaal.

The Conservative group on the council has voted en bloc against the proposed casino - despite officers' advice that the plan was likely to go ahead in the end, regardless of how members voted.

Liberal Democrat and Labour councillors supported the application in the behind-closed-doors portion of the full council meeting.

When the meeting was reopened to the public, Tory leader Charles Latham (Con, Chalkwell) attacked the decision.

He said: "In 1994, the previous Conservative administration, through its prudent budgeting, ensured there was sufficient money available to enable the council to purchase the Kursaal.

"It was never in the mind of Conservative councillors - nor we suggest the majority of other members and certainly not imagined possible by the majority of residents - that this use would include a casino.

"If the administration is now responsible for a blunder which means that they have no option but to vote in favour, then that is a problem for them.

"The Conservative group cannot in all conscience now vote to allow a use which is completely at odds with what was anticipated when the lease was entered into."

Lib Dem council leader Graham Longley said Conservatives had not recorded any objection to the lease when it was agreed in 1995.

He added: "Our support for this was not based on the desire to have a casino, but based on the town clerk's legal advice."

Without valid legal planning grounds to refuse, any decision to oppose a casino is likely to be overturned by Government inspectors on appeal.

"The Tories had allowed it to rot for years by permitting a scheme which was going nowhere and against what residents wanted," he added. "The Kursaal has proved to be a catalyst for much of the seafront."

Southend already has two casinos - the Westcliff and the Waterfront on Western Esplanade. A recent bid to open a casino at Courtlands Country Club, Wakering Road, Southend, was withdrawn after the Gaming Board objected to the idea.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.